The Badger and the Snake
by oOwth
Summary: A Hufflepuff witnesses a Slytherin enter the Forbidden Forest. Not wanting to be a Tattle she keeps this to herself. But later, she learns he hasn't returned. So, with the desire to win Hufflepuff some recogniztion, Laura enters the forest.


Laura glanced out the window of the library, her blue eyes squinting into the sun. She couldn't tell, the glare was too bad, but it looked like someone was going into the Forbidden Forest.  
  
Standing up, the 4th year walked towards the window and strained her eyes to make out if what she thought she saw was real.  
  
It was.  
  
A Slytherin she recognized as Graham Pritchard was going into the forest. Laura bit her tongue, she knew students weren't allowed in the forest alone, but she didn't want to tattle. Convincing herself that Graham must know what he's doing, Laura returned to her table.  
  
When she had finished her Herbology essay she closed the book with a satisfied sigh. Gathering her things, Laura headed back towards the Hufflepuff common room, the events from earlier forgotten from her mind. As she turned down one of the corners she spotted a gaggle of Slytherins swarming Professor Snape.  
  
"Professor, have you seen Graham?" one of the boys asked.  
  
"No Baddock. Now leave me alone," Snape told him before brushing past them and heading towards the dungeons. Hiding in the shadows so they wouldn't spot her as they went past, Laura realized they were talking about the boy she saw go into the forest earlier.  
  
She checked her watch, they had a few hours before dinner so she could go and find him. If she did find him, maybe Hufflepuff would finally get some recognition, she thought as she jogged to the entrance door to get outside.  
  
The sun had moved closer to the mountains so it wasn't as bright outside. Laura bit her lip as her blue eyes focused on the forest. She had never actually been in there and wasn't sure what she might find. Taking a determined breath, the brunette walked towards the forest.  
  
Once inside, she noticed it was rather dark.  
  
"Lumos," she whispered, holding out her wand so the light could lead her way. She meandered through the bushes, stopping occasionally to make sure she didn't hear any large beasts creeping up behind her to attack.  
  
As she continued through the forest, she whispered encouraging things to herself, if not just to hear a human voice. Taking a step, her foot landed on a twig, which snapped under the pressure.  
  
"Who's there?" a voice cried from past some trees. It sounded like Graham. Laura sprinted to where she heard the voice; squeaked and dropped her essay and quills as a spell zoomed past her ear.  
  
"Oh. Sorry," Graham said, not sounding sorry at all. "What are you doing here?" he questioned, not getting up from the stone he was sitting on to help her.  
  
"Everyone is looking for you. I saw you come out here so I decided to come find you," Laura explained, brushing herself off.  
  
"Everyone?" Graham asked amused.  
  
"Well, some Slytherins at least," Laura explained with a shrug. Graham studied her with his calm blue eyes.  
  
"Lead the way, Hufflepuff," Graham said bemused, extending a hand out to allow Laura lead. Laura looked around the clearing, and started to walk towards where she came from, but stopped before turning to go another way.  
  
"Wait..." Graham injected. "You DO know how to get out, right?" he asked, seeing Laura's uneasiness.  
  
"Well, I think Hogwarts is THAT way," Laura replied uncertainly.  
  
"Oh Great. I've got rescued by a HuffleDuffer," Graham exclaimed, throwing his arms up.  
  
"Hey, I'm not the one who got lost in the forest," Laura said in her own defense.  
  
"Yes you are. We both got lost," Graham stated. Laura blinked for a moment before moving on.  
  
"Well then, help me find a way out of here if you're so smart," she told him.  
  
"Can't," Graham said calmly.  
  
"Why not?" the brunette asked, coming to the end of her rope.  
  
"My ankle is sprained," Graham explained, gesturing towards his foot, which was rather swollen.  
  
Laura studied it for a moment before going towards some bushes near the border of the clearing. Plucking some, she went over to Graham's foot.  
  
"What are you doing?" Graham asked, trying to move his foot away from her.  
  
"I'm going to put some of this on your foot to keep the swelling down," Laura explained, trying to reach for his foot.  
  
"No way are you putting some weed on my foot. What if it makes it worse?" Graham protested, swiveling on the rock so his foot was out of reach from where Laura kneeled.  
  
"It's Wolfbane," Laura told him, as if that explained it all, trying to get to his foot.  
  
"Oh great, now I get to know what's going to kill me," Graham cried.  
  
"It will help the swelling," Laura insisted, trying to grab his foot.  
  
"How do you know? We only did a short lesson on it in Herbology. We didn't even learn the uses of it. For all you know, it could turn my foot purple. Or cause it to fall off."  
  
"I've studied its uses," Laura explained, still trying to get to his foot.  
  
"That's convenient. Why would you do that?" Graham asked, trying to dodge her still. In his attempts to stay out of her grasp, he fell backwards.  
  
"Because I plan to work at St. Mungos some day," Laura explained, grabbing Graham's foot and putting the healing leaves on the swelled ankle. Almost at once the swelling went down. Graham let out a relieved sigh as he started to get up. As soon as he was standing, his foot gave out and he fell again.  
  
"You shouldn't walk until the foot is healed," Laura told him, helping him back onto the rock.  
  
"Well, you going to whip up some magic potion for that now?" Graham asked sarcastically.  
  
"If you want." Laura told him, walking towards the bushes again, examining the plants growing. She hummed as she plucked a few specific leaves before returning to the fallen Slytherin.  
  
"Got a cauldron on you?" she asked humorously as she began to dig a hole in the packed dirt.  
  
"Normally yes, but I seemed to have left it in my other cloak," Graham replied dryly.  
  
"What are you doing now?" he asked, raising an eye brow as Laura continued to dig in the dirt.  
  
"Improvising," Laura explained, putting the last of the ingredients into the hole she had made.  
  
"I'm not drinking anything you made in the dirt," Graham told her, leaning away from her.  
  
"You don't drink the potion, I put it on your foot." Laura said, pouring water into the hole.  
  
"How long is this going to take?" Graham asked, glancing up at the sky where it was beginning to turn black.  
  
"The potion it's self won't take but a few minutes. Its the healing that will take a while," Laura informed him, not looking up from her work. They sat in silence as Laura heated a rock with her wand and dropped it in the hole, watching the liquid already start to bubble. Once the bubbling stopped, she instructed Graham to dip his foot into the hole.  
  
"You're sure it won't make my foot fall off?" Graham asked uncertainly as he began to take off his shoes and carefully place his foot into the pit.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"So... now we wait?" Graham asked, already feeling his ankle start to heal.  
  
"Now we wait," Laura confirmed. They both said nothing for a few minutes. 


End file.
